She recalled a recent news story that had Theo trailing behind another candidate, but looking at him now, she couldn’t imagine why. He certainly looked the part, and she knew fromlistening in on conversations at the pub that the fire and police departments respected him. Even Cap, who didn’t play political favorites, had a grudging respect for the mayor’s work ethic.
Her stomach growled quietly and just as she thought no one heard, Theo turned his head imperceptibly to meet her gaze. This close, she could see that the tiny laugh lines next to his blue eyes were paler, as if he spent a lot of time in the sun. That haughty eyebrow skyrocketed. Shehatedthat eyebrow.
So, she yawned. Loudly. “Oops. Excuse me.” Someone laughed in the crowd. Theo didn’t miss a beat in his speech, but his eyebrow stayed down, so she figured they were even on her mental scoreboard.
Amber felt a little guilty admitting it, but the town politics had never interested her very much before. Every November, she did her duty and voted for Theo, and his father before him, although she would never, ever admit that to him. When Amber was little, Annette took her and her sisters on a trip to the Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester every year. They visited Susan B. Anthony’s grave and placed their “I voted” stickers on her tombstone to show support for the pioneer. It was a little macabre, sure, but Annette treated them all to breakfast after at a greasy spoon diner with the best chocolate chip pancakes on earth.
Mmm. Chocolate. She could almost taste the little morsels melting in her mouth. Tomorrow was Sunday dinner at Annette’s with the entire family. Despite being sick to death of ramen, she would probably have to make up some excuse not to go. She really couldn’t stand talking about another failure on her résumé with her family giving her pitying looks.Poor Amber, she lost another job.Well meaning, but she was so very tired of hearing it. She was so very tired oflivingit.
It was enough to sink her into a deep depression, so she looked around at the crowd instead, and caught sight ofSavannah toddling like a drunken sailor toward the edge of the stairs. Someone’s frantic whisper, “Savvie, no, come back,” warned her, but the little girl let out a mischievous giggle, took another step, and tumbled in slow motion headfirst down the stairs. Amber’s heart leaped to her throat while she watched, frozen in horror, and too far away to stop her.
Theo’s arm shot out and gripped Savannah’s chubby little ankle just as she went ass over teakettle in her princess dress.
The crowd gasped, then cheered, and Amber heard the telltale clicks of cameras and phones in the audience. Theo, still gingerly holding a now-laughing Savannah, bent to put her down. He turned back to the mic as if nothing had happened.
Amber looked around in disbelief. Where was his team? This was the perfect PR moment and Theo was just going to waste it? One would think he got his position on good looks alone because it definitely wasn't his marketing skills, she thought in disgust. No one wanted to hear about the history of the building when there was drama to see.
Before thinking too much about it, she jumped into action, sweeping down to lift Savannah back up. “Hi, Savvie. Want to smile big for the camera?” she whispered, pointing to the news camera. Savvie’s eyes lit up. Her favorite thing in the world was stealing everyone’s phones and taking selfies whenever she could, like the little diva she was.
“Take her and smile,” Amber whispered, gently placing Savanna into Theo’s arms again. Very muscly arms, she couldn’t help but notice.
The little imp looked up at the man holding her and patted his cheek. “S’mile,” she demanded, and Theo did what any self-respecting man would do—he smiled, dimples and all.
Oh, yeah.Thatwas the look that would win him the election.
Impulsively, she reached up andmessed up his hair. Not a lot, just a few pieces that curled over his forehead and made him look appealing tousled. Approachable. Less GQ, more hot guy next door. Yummy.
“Mr. Mayor, over here!”Click.
“Smile over here, Mayor!”Click.Click.
“Did you see him save that baby?”Click.
Amber sat back and watched smugly. She did have a knack for putting people in their best light.
“That was clever,” Lily murmured from beside her.
Amber shrugged. “It’s good publicity for your studio too.” But something had shifted in the instant she had decided to orchestrate the moment. It felt good. She had known exactly what to do. Maybe working for the mayor wasn’t quite as crazy of an idea as she thought. Maybe he needed her and didn’t know it?
Besides, Sunday dinner was looming and the thought of facing her family without a plan made her queasy.
The next half hour of mingling and celebrating flew by. Every time Amber spotted Theo, people surrounded him, vying for his attention. She watched for her opportunity for a while, noticing that Theo took his time listening to every single person who waited to talk to him.
Eventually, she gave up and busied herself cleaning up and networking with moms and kids looking for dance classes. Amber made sure they all left with a brochure and a bracelet, which turned out to be a huge hit with the kids.
She looked again for Theo, but seeing him engaged with a young family, Amber grabbed a brownie and snuck away to Lily’s office to wolf it down in peace. Double chocolate with a chocolate ganache frosting, her favorite. She was leaning on the desk, licking her fingers of the last bit, when someone knocked.
“Door’s open,” she called.
Theo walked in, looking just as pristine as when the eventstarted. She self-consciously smoothed back her flyaway hairs. When she realized what she was doing, she quickly crossed her legs, draped herself across the desk, and purred, “You found me. Take me, I’m yours, big boy.”
“I came to say thank you,” he said stiffly.
Amber straightened up. “Relax, Mr. Mayor,” she grumbled, rubbing her ribs where Lily’s stapler had jammed into her. “I’m just messing with you.”
“I think you missed your calling,” he said, strolling into the office with his hands in his pockets and eyeing the desk.
“As what? A slutty secretary?” She snorted. “Been there, done that.”
